Laundry Detergent Review

Testing laundry detergent brands

Consumer Reports publishes the best review of laundry detergents, with an evaluation of 34 high-efficiency (HE) and standard detergents. Laundry soap is tested for cleaning performance, ability to keep dirt off and effectiveness at keeping dye off to prevent colors from bleeding. Editors tested laundry detergents on common stains including grass, chocolate, red wine and blood. We expected to find great information and testing of laundry detergents at Good Housekeeping magazine, but editors don't appear to have conducted a large test of laundry detergents. Instead, Good Housekeeping offers a report on the best eco-friendly cleaners plus a video review that compares two detergent tablets against powder formulations of the same brands. At Grist.com, Sarah Van Schagen puts six environmentally friendly detergents to the test against several stains.

We found many other informal tests in which one person does laundry with different laundry detergents and compares the results. Some of these tests are performed for television shows or newspapers, while others are published exclusively online. The Associated Content website has several articles in which a writer describes the pros and cons of a particular detergent, but these just amount to lengthy versions of the same kinds of user reviews you'll also find at Amazon.com, Drugstore.com and RateItAll.com.

Alternatives to laundry detergent: Balls, rings, discs

Laundry is periodically the target of some new alternative to standard powdered and liquid detergents. Some of these, such as Wisk and Tide laundry tablets, work well in testing, but many others don't.

In 1999, the Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert regarding reusable balls, rings and discs that are filled with a liquid intended to replace regular detergent. The alert states that, "At best, they're marginally better than washing clothes in hot water alone, and not as effective as washing them with laundry detergent. At worst, the products are completely useless."

There are many varieties of laundry balls that purport to replace laundry detergent by modifying the structure of water to make it clean better. The Life Miracle Laundry System (*est. $50) uses a "powerful, specially calibrated magnetism to help alter the basic nature of water and increase its natural solvency," (according to the manufacturer). The website lists dozens of testimonials from happy customers. However, in a test by Australia's Choice magazine, this product achieves similar results to washing with plain water. An informative website called "H2O dot con" is helmed by a former chemistry professor; Stephen Lower discusses the inaccuracies behind the scientific claims made by the manufacturers of these magnetic laundry products. The writer concludes that, "The best that can be said of magnetic laundry balls is that they help agitate the fabrics, but you can accomplish the same thing by dropping a rock into the washing machine. Otherwise, these devices are worthless."